Foobar and iPhone - Together Forever

pcs, how do you have your PC connected to your hifi?

I assume this is just running a mini server on the computer that the iphone picks up?

looks exactly like the remote app from itunes

Well in fairness a screen of that size and something specific like remote control of a music library does not leave much room for anything other than the look of apples remote app.

Would be interested to know how quickly it reconnects when the phone goes to sleep. Apple sorted that out in a later release of the remote app. It could be a real pain in the first iteration and sometimes couldn't refind the library at all.

pcstockton,

This sure looks good.

Foobar is just a little too bland and techie for myself. Have you used MediaMonkey? What is you view on the ins and out of the two?

I am just about stepping from Slim Transporter world into the computer based audio world, and that world sure is intimidating.

So how does the i-Phone/Touch figure into the equation??

Its a remote control

quote:

Originally posted by r-tee:
pcs, how do you have your PC connected to your hifi?

Via M-Audio Transit. 24/96 USB-to-Toslink converter. Allegedly bit perfect. Then into the Beresford DAC and out to the 102 by means of a Chord Crimson RCA-to-DIN cable.

I also have a very inexpensive soundcard with Toslink output but it is limited to 24/48.... And it was $15. It is unused at present.

I play music in Foobar (player) and output either via ASIO or DS (i cant hear a difference), although DS allows for use of SRC so I dont need to change the Transit's resolution when something hi-res comes on.

-patrick

quote:

Originally posted by garyi:
I assume this is just running a mini server on the computer that the iphone picks up?

It is a template based on a component for Foobar called "http control"

The developer wanted to be able to use a different computer to control Foobar playing at another location. For example, PC is in office playing music Foobar and streaming by whatever means to other room. They wanted to be able to use their laptop on the couch to control the PC in the other room.

So the developer wrote a component for Foobar that would allow this via wifi. You simply tell Foobar what port to be on, then navigate your browser to "http://youripaddressort#"

It worked really well and people started writing graphical templates (GUI) to use this controller. Naturally people started making templates specific to the iPhone. In the past I used this:



As you can see from my first post. It has come a long way. And there is no limit. I have modifed a bunch of them to suit my own needs. But this most recent build is perfection. I have been send the developer notes for small tweaks and little suggestions, which he has implemented.

So basically, it runs in Safari, but you wouldn't know it. It doesn't appear in your "open pages" nor is there a address bar or anything like that. Super slick interface.

-p

quote:

Originally posted by garyi:
Would be interested to know how quickly it reconnects when the phone goes to sleep. Apple sorted that out in a later release of the remote app. It could be a real pain in the first iteration and sometimes couldn't refind the library at all.

Instantly. Well i suppose it is as fast as your network is.

The only lag is that if sleeping for a while, when the phone wakes up it takes a second to reacquire the wifi signal. But that is an iPhone issue in general, not specific to this in the least.

But in terms of find the library and all of that mess. That is an iTunes issue. Foobar doesn't work that way.

If the phone is connected, it loads (see playlist shot above) playlists, on initial start up in about as long as it takes a text message to send. 1.3 seconds???

It loads playlists into "Pages", e.g. Pages 1015 of 2080, of your desired quantity. I have mine set for 40 per page.

Inside the playlist you can click on as many songs as you want to highlight them, then multitap to play in queue.

Everything is as instant as possible. No hang ups. I have made about 100 playlist at once, many very huge, and it still loads quickly. It is all about using pages, rather it loading an 80K song playlist all at once.

quote:

Originally posted by novelty:
So how does the i-Phone/Touch figure into the equation??

Sitting on the couch, controlling Foobar on a PC in another room. No need for monitor, TV, keyboard, or mouse.

-p

quote:

Originally posted by pcstockton:

quote:

Originally posted by garyi:
Would be interested to know how quickly it reconnects when the phone goes to sleep. Apple sorted that out in a later release of the remote app. It could be a real pain in the first iteration and sometimes couldn't refind the library at all.

Instantly. Well i suppose it is as fast as your network is.

The only lag is that if sleeping for a while, when the phone wakes up it takes a second to reacquire the wifi signal. But that is an iPhone issue in general, not specific to this in the least.

But in terms of find the library and all of that mess. That is an iTunes issue. Foobar doesn't work that way.

If the phone is connected, it loads (see playlist shot above) playlists, on initial start up in about as long as it takes a text message to send. 1.3 seconds???

It loads playlists into "Pages", e.g. Pages 1015 of 2080, of your desired quantity. I have mine set for 40 per page.

Inside the playlist you can click on as many songs as you want to highlight them, then multitap to play in queue.

Everything is as instant as possible. No hang ups. I have made about 100 playlist at once, many very huge, and it still loads quickly. It is all about using pages, rather it loading an 80K song playlist all at once.

That does not sound elegant, or is it just a result of your desire to have a playlist of every one of your tunes?

Garyi,

You dont need to use playlists. You can search for whatever you want with the search function. Or you can browse to your library and play from there (last pic). It is as elegant and wonderful in every way as the "Remote App". And unlike the remote app you can change anything you want. Dont like the colors or font? Change them. Do you want a different method of playing a track, eg a play button on the track, go for it.

quote:

Originally posted by garyi:
That does not sound elegant, or is it just a result of your desire to have a playlist of every one of your tunes?

The pages aspect can be set to "Zero", then all the songs are on one page. No big deal either way. If your playlist are all very small I would imagine setting the page number to be infinite would be great.

I could do that now but scrolling down a 1800+ song playlist (like my Zappa playlist) would take forever.

If i want to find something in a huge playlist I search for it. Super easy.

How do you browse artists? With iTunes and the iPhone remote can click Artist and browse to F for Fairpprt Convention then it lists the Fairport convention albums I have - without creating playlists, does your FooBar remote do the same?

Or I can click on albums and (in alphabetical order) it lists all albums within iTunes. It seams that you just have a huge list of tracks within your playlists - am I wrong?

Eloise

Eloise,

I would start to type in the search field. See the "Steve Reich" example above. It obviously has predictive text so you only need a few letters. Press done and voila.

This is not something that would make someone switch from iTunes to Foobar is heavily reliant on the Remote App.

It is simply something for those who dont use iTunes, use Foobar, and want a great remote.

Features that are currently being implemented:
- Horizontal scroll through pages with finger swipe
- Album Art in the playlist
- playlist grouping, as in Remote app (this is what you are talking about with "browsing" question)
- Play, Queue and delete button overlay in playlist

Keep in mind that this was developed only a week ago. At my or any others suggestions, the developer will either modify the template or give you the code to do it yourself.

There is no doubt the Remote app is better in many ways. But also, superior to the Remote app in a few others. Given the dealbreakers for me with using iTunes, this Foobar app is a dream come true. And it will be for any other Foobar users.

I am not trying to convert iTunes users out there. But if you want an alternative, and you use a PC, Foobar is unequaled.

-patrick

PS - A library the size of mine locks up the app when trying to stream the entire list of artist and songs and albums. Not sure where the cut off is, but when I converted half of my world to ALAC in a third and final attempt at getting along with iTunes, I didnt stay with it very long.

FYI, eloise and Garyi...

There will soon be an exact album, artist and song (user defined searches) exactly as the Remote App works, with a "Contacts" style scroll bar with the alphabet.

The search (text) function will still exist which I really like.

It is getting more elegant as we go!

-p

I don't have a PC and mostly I control music via the TV with a harmony remote. I have itunes on as well should I want to use the touch.

Screen grabs from the TV:

That's actually pretty cool Gary. Very nice user interface.

Tortoise is strong!!!!

and that picture of Wilco was taken at a Portland venue i wont name....

I like tortoise and have also taken an interest in Explosions in the Sky. Which are a little bit similar.